Reading Fluency

Practicing with fluency passages is an important part of becoming a good reader. By the beginning of 4th grade you should be reading about 90 words a minute (wpm). 105 wpm is a good mid-year score and 120 wpm is where you should be by the end of the year. Wherever you start, set a reasonable goal of increasing 3-5 wpm each month. Print 2 copies of a fluency passage. Have a parent time you for 1 minute as you read the passage aloud. Your parent should mark your mistakes on their copy. When 60 seconds is up, count the number of words you read and subtract your mistakes. Then record your score as: 98/6. This means you read a total of 104 words, but 98 were correct and 6 were mistakes. Do not move on to a new level until you have reached fluency (115-120 wpm) with the level you are on. Do not go on to 5th Grade passages until you are able to read 150 wpm on the 4th Grade Advanced passages.